Judges: WILLIAM B. THOMAS
Agency: Department of Transportation
Latest Update: May 17, 1985
Summary: Removal of sign ordered. Site violated spacing and right of way requirements.
84-4405.PDFSTATE OF FLORIDA
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, )
)
Petitioner, )
)
vs. ) CASE NO. 84-4405T
) 84-4406T
CATALINA HOMES, INC. )
)
Respondent. )
)
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, William B. Thomas, held a formal hearing in these consolidated cases on April 10, 1985, in Deland, Florida. By telephone on the date of the hearing, Mr. Robert A. Bruno of Catalina Homes, the Respondent, advised the Hearing Officer that he would be unable to attend the hearing at the time and place scheduled in the Hearing Notice which was issued on January 19, 1985, but that the Respondent expected the hearing to take place as scheduled.
APPEARANCES
FOR PETITIONER: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire
Haydon Burns Building, Mail Station 58 Tallahassee, Florida 32301-8064
FOR RESPONDENT: No one appeared.
FINDINGS OF FACT
The Respondent, Catalina Homes, Inc., owns an outdoor advertising sign with two faces which is situated on State Road 50, 2.9 miles west of State Road 435, in Orange County, Florida. This sign faces eastbound and westbound traffic on State Road 50, and the location is not within any city or town.
State Road 50 is a federal-aid primary road, and it is open to traffic.
The subject sign is visible from the main traveled way of State Road
50.
Orange County is a zoned county, and the zoning at the location where
the Respondent's sign is situated is agricultural.
There are not three business locations within 800 feet of the Respondent's sign and the subject sign is within 660 feet of the right-of-way of State Road 50.
The Respondent's sign is approximately 750 feet from a sign which has been permitted to Cashi Signs, Inc. The Cashi sign is located to the east of the Respondent's sign, on the same side of the road.
There has been no state sign permit issued for either face of the Respondent's sign.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to and the subject matter of this case. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes. The Department of Transportation has the authority to regulate outdoor advertising signs and to issue permits there for pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 479, Florida Statutes.
Section 479.07(1), Florida Statutes, prohibits the erection, use or maintenance of an outdoor advertising structure along any federal-aid primary highway, without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Department of Transportation.
Section 479.11(1), Florida Statutes, prohibits the erection of an outdoor advertising sign within 660 feet of the right-of-way of the federal-aid primary highway system, except as allowed by Section 479.111, Florida Statutes. Subsection (2) of Section 479.111, Florida Statutes, allows signs in commercial or industrial zoned areas, or in an unzoned area which is within 800 feet from an area with three or more visible commercial activities within a 1,600-foot radius of each other, as provided in Section 479.01(20), Florida Statutes.
Section 479.07(9)(a)(2), Florida Statutes, prohibits the permitting of any sign which is located within 1,000 feet from any other permitted sign on the same side of the highway, if the location is on a federal-aid primary road.
The Respondent's sign which is the subject of this proceeding has not been erected in a commercial or industrial zoned area, or in an unzoned area which is within 800 feet of three visible business activities, and the location is within 660 feet from the right-of-way of State Road 50. The subject sign is within 1,000 feet from another permitted sign, and it does not have a permit for either face issued by the Department of Transportation. Therefore, the Respondent's sign is in violation of the above statutes, and must be removed.
RECOMMENDATION
Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Respondent's two-faced sign situated on State Road 50,
2.9 miles west of State Road 435, facing eastbound and westbound traffic, in Orange County, Florida, be removed.
THIS RECOMMENDED ORDER entered this 16th day of April, 1985 in Tallahassee, Florida.
WILLIAM B. THOMAS
Hearing Officer
Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building
2009 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-9675
FILED with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 16th day of April, 1985.
COPIES FURNISHED:
Philip S. Bennett, Esquire Hon. Paul A. Pappas Haydon Burns Bldg., M.S. 58 Secretary
Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Department of Transporation
Haydon Burns Bldg. Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Mr. Robert A. Bruno Vice-President Catalina Homes, Inc.
1344 West Colonial Drive Orlando, Florida 32804
Docket for Case No: 84-004405
Orders for Case No: 84-004405
